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Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
by Tom Kelley
When Eldrick "Tiger" Woods came along people said there would never be another one like him. Power, precision and a certain youthful zest made him appealing. Then came William Tryon. Tryon was a precocious teenager who took the golf world by storm as he was seemingly being another Tiger. Everyone thought that he would be the next Tiger and were predicting great things.
If you don't recognize William Tryon you may recognize Ty Tryon. Ty is William's nickname hung on him by a doting father in recognition of the otherworldy character made famous in Caddyshack by Chevy Chase. Ty burst onto the scene as a "can't miss" phenom. He got his Tour Card when he was legal age to do so. However, the victories did not begin to pile up in quite so rapid a succession as they did in the case of Tiger.
After a dismal 2003, when the now nineteen year old Tryon was only able to make two cuts in twelve starts, Tryon was in danger of losing his Tour Card which would mean back to Qualifying School. For those of you who don't know it, there is a Qualifying School, called "Q" School by the pros, where the players who want to be on the PGA Tour go to compete for openings on the Tour. A great number of professional golfers have made it to the Tour only to have to go back to "Q" School because they didn't earn enough to stay on Tour.
It was Amelia Earhart who said, "Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace." For Tryon that courage is in the form of restructuring his swing and game to compete against grown men who have much more mental toughness than a teenager who was blowing away his peers in amateur competitions. The peace comes in being a part of the golfing fraternity fully accepted as an equal.
Concerning courage for the church to be what it has been called to be, the apostle Paul wrote, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:1-3 The kingdom is no more our playground than the PGA Tour is Ty Tryon's. It takes great courage to examine ourselves and restructure our lives that the kingdom might possess the unity God's expects and intends; unity which brings peace.
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...He was the Minister of the Minorsville Christian Church located near Stamping Ground, KY.
...Becky and Tom have three children; John, single and in worship ministry in Nicholasville, Kentucky; Sean, married (Jennifer, elementary school teacher) with twins (Grace and Patrick, b.d. 10/31/04) and regional director of Papa John's Pizza in Central KY; Kara, married (Vince Taylor, prison guard) and working with Hospice East in Winchester, KY.
...Tom went to be with the Lord on November 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer. If you have been touched by Tom's writings please send an email to Tom's son at jkelley@catalystchristian.net
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